Relative Value
by TRCD
Summary: As soon as Ruby hears that Pyrrha and Jaune are missing, she knows that there's no time to waste. A couple of seconds here, a couple of seconds there, and Pyrrha's fight with Cinder ends quite differently.
A short as hell oneshot slapped together over the span of a few hours. All it takes is a few what ifs to come together and then all of a sudden the plot bunny's just running around all over the place.

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"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing!" Nora Valkyrie exclaimed as she made to stand; she let out a groan of pain as her injuries forced her back to ground, gingerly laying a hand over her ribs.

Sun opened his mouth to say something, but Ruby had heard all that she needed to hear. Too much had happened already for her to waste another second.

"O-okay! I'll find them! I'll find them, and I'll bring them back!"

And with that, Ruby turned and ran off without waiting to hear anymore.

Sun, Ren, and Nora could only watch as Weiss screamed for Ruby to wait, before breaking off into a run of her own in order to catch up to her partner.

The monkey faunus made to open his mouth again, but instead settled for a sigh.

"…you better come back, idiots."

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As soon as Jaune's distraught voice crackled through Weiss' scroll, Ruby knew that something was horribly wrong.

"Jaune! Are you okay! What-," she started, before she was cut off by a harsh yell.

"Weiss! Please, you have to stop her! Don't worry about me!"

"What?" The heiress interrupted, not having the slightest clue what he could be talking about.

"Pyrrha! She's going after that woman – at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"

Both Ruby and Weiss turned worried gazes towards the aforementioned tower, before Ruby narrowed her eyes.

No time to waste then.

"Weiss, let's go!"

The scythe wielder took off yet again, already charging into the Grimm that stood in between her and her friend.

"What?! Ruby! Wait!"

Jaune threw his scroll to the side, praying that they could save Pyrrha.

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Pyrrha couldn't believe the power difference between herself and the woman standing across the room.

Was this the strength of a maiden?

The Grimm dragon let out a roar as it flew through the top of the tower, sending the uppermost section crumbling to the ground below.

At the same time, the Mistral regional champion let out a pained grunt as the black haired woman blasted her into the wall with a powerful elbow into her midsection.

All of Pyrrha's attacks were turned away with ease, and Miló lay broken into pieces. Meanwhile, her opponent remained unfazed.

How was she supposed to do this?

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By the time the tower's top section had been destroyed, Ruby was already sprinting towards its base, yelling out to her partner.

"Weiss! Glyphs!"

Weiss complied just as Ruby began using her semblance to launch herself towards the tower wall, knowing that nothing she said could deter her headstrong leader now.

"Be careful, you dunce," the heiress muttered to herself, biting her lip in worry and hoping that her red cloaked leader didn't do anything too risky, like try and fight the enemy that Pyrrha supposedly had no hope against.

Just get Pyrrha and get away.

Why did she have such a bad feeling about this?

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Pyrrha looked on in shock as Cinder blew off the mountain of gears that she was under; the red head was only just barely able to put her shield up in time to lessen the impact of the explosion.

Cinder summoned her ashen bow and took aim, intending on putting an end to this farce.

No matter how hopeless it seemed, Pyrrha knew that she couldn't give up. This woman was clearly behind the terrible things that were happening to her friends. The Mistralian stood up, Akoúo̱ held in a throwing position, spun once to gather momentum, and then spun again, releasing the shield along the same path that Cinder's arrow was lined upon.

For her part, the Fall maiden showed no reaction, instead loosing the arrow as if the shield made no difference.

Pyrrha would only realize as it was happening that Akoúo̱ _did_ make no difference.

The black arrow dissipated into fragments along the contours of the shield, before reforming on the other side.

Cinder's aim was true, and the sharp arrowhead dug deeply into Pyrrha's heel, bringing her to her knees.

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Unbeknownst to either of the women, as Pyrrha attempted to stand only to fall again, Ruby was already reaching the highest level of the tower still standing.

While Cinder mocked Pyrrha over the Fall maiden's power, Ruby was leaping over the spire's edge.

When Pyrrha asked Cinder about destiny, Ruby was landing on a crouch, processing the sight of Pyrrha beaten and about to be executed.

And as Cinder summoned her bow once again, pulling back on the drawstring with a cruel smirk, Ruby was already in motion.

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A semblance is the manifestation of one's soul; it is the representation of their character made power.

Ruby's semblance was speed, accompanied by rose petals.

She never did completely heal from the death of her mother.

Even after everyone had already told her that it wasn't her fault and that there was nothing that she could have done, and even after Ruby Rose had long since realized that, rationally, realistically, there was no way that she could have helped, the daughter of Summer Rose never got over the feeling of, "if I was just fast enough, could I have saved her?"

Ruby Rose was fast. Faster than everyone on her team. Faster in a straight race than anyone she knew, even. The memory of her mother's death pushed her forward, as evidenced by the rose petals always left in her semblance's wake.

When she took in the sight of that… witch, standing over her friend with an arrow aimed at her chest, Ruby immediately began moving.

It was as if time had slowed to a crawl. She could see Cinder's fingers begin to loosen their grip on the string, and it was right then and there that she knew, she had to _move_.

She summoned everything she had, pushing her body to give it all just so that she could _get there in time_.

The leader of team RWBY didn't think, because that would take too much time.

Ruby Rose would never be too slow again.

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Pyrrha refused to close her eyes as she stared into the face of her soon-to-be killer, even while Cinder's fingers began to uncurl around the tautly drawn bowstring.

But she was forced to look away when a third voice screamed out into the night.

"Leave her alone!"

That… that was Ruby's voice.

Pyrrha's eyes snapped towards the direction of the yell, widening when they took in the sight of a red vortex screaming her way, red petals flying all around.

No! What was she doing here? She couldn't beat this woman!

The sound of Ruby colliding with Pyrrha couldn't drown out the sounds of an arrow being released and flesh being pierced.

It also didn't stop Pyrrha from hearing Ruby's pained cry as she ran into her.

The member of team JNPR truly understood what happened only when Ruby's vortex suddenly stopped, and her momentum sent the two of them tumbling over the edge together; falling as they were, Pyrrha could still take in Ruby's form completely and clearly.

The shaft of Cinder's black arrow stood out prominently from Ruby's side, even as the younger girl let out a wet, hacking cough.

She could barely make out the younger girl's words.

"I…I wasn't fast enough to save Penny… but," she coughed again before she could complete her statement.

"At least I could save you," the young leader finished, her expressive silver eyes showing nothing but relief as they stared straight into Pyrrha's anguished green.

No. Oh, no. Please, no!

Pyrrha knew that she had no time to panic; the first thing that she had to do was make sure that they landed without dying.

Ruby saved her life; she'd be damned if she couldn't return the favor.

She ignored the dreadful pain in her heel and reached out to grab a hold of her friend. Once she had a firm grip, she reeled her in as best she could and cradled her in her arms, taking care to jostle her as little as possible, lest the arrow still embedded inside do even more damage.

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Weiss was facing a dilemma. She was in the heart of danger, with the school overrun by Grimm and her only support too far away to help her. At the same time, the clenching of her heart prevented her from leaving.

So she stuck close to the base of the spire, risking the occasional glance towards the top in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of her immature partner.

One such look turned into a focused stare.

Pyrrha's brilliant red hair and Ruby's cloak both stood out prominently in the night; the fact that the two girls were close together was also a good sign.

But… why were they falling? They were approaching the ground fast!

Ruby Rose managed to worry her even in success, it seemed.

Gritting her teeth, Weiss summoned her glyphs to help the two girls land.

Why hadn't she noticed them sooner?! They were getting too close to the ground!

Weiss lessened the impact as much as she could, and hoped – no, prayed – that it was enough.

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During their fall, Pyrrha positioned herself so that when they landed, Ruby would land on top.

It was far from ideal, but with no Miló or Akoúo̱, it was the best way she could think of on short notice to protect Ruby as much as possible.

Closing her eyes and bracing herself, Pyrrha felt their descent slow down significantly, before she hit the ground and everything went black.

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When Pyrrha came to, the first thing she saw was the top of a tent, and the second was her leader hovering near her, worry and relief clear in his eyes.

"Pyrrha! You're awake!" Jaune yelled, relieved tears running down his cheeks.

"Where are we?" She asked, pushing herself so that she was sitting up a little.

"We're in a safe zone in Vale; this is one of the medical tents they were able to set up," she heard Ren answer off to the side; she whipped her head in the direction of the voice and saw her remaining two teammates off to the side, but still nearby.

Nora's own tears ran over her smile, and even stoic Ren was sending her a relieved grin.

Seeing her friends so concerned for her brought a warmth to her heart. And to think, she had come so close to losing all of this, if not… for…

"Ruby!" Pyrrha screamed with a jolt, flinching from the pain that shot up her leg from the sudden motion. She took a second before continuing on, not noticing the silence that had fallen over the others.

"Where is she?! When I saw her –she!" The champion of team JNPR noticed that Nora's smile had faded, and that Jaune had since put his face in his hands.

Neither of them had stopped crying.

…?!

"J-jaune? Nora?! What's wrong?! Ruby-," she asked, only for Ren, ever composed, to answer for her.

"Pyrrha… Ruby, she," he started, before he was interrupted by an older man stalking over to them, the loudness of his steps and the fury in his expression quieting Ren's voice.

From the looks of it, Ren at least recognized this man. How would Ren know him?

Pyrrha recognized him from her meeting with Professor Ozpin and the others. She figured that someone as high up as him would have better things to do than be… wherever she was.

"Finally awake, you fucking idiot?" he snarled out, catching the Mistralian girl off guard with the venom in his voice.

Jaune found it in himself to speak up.

"H-hey! Pyrrha-!"

He whirled around on her blond leader, his lip still curled in rage and his weapon now in hand.

"Boy, your reckless mouth has done enough talking today!"

Jaune recoiled harshly and stopped speaking.

"That's not necessary, _sir_. Is there something that you wanted?" Pyrrha said, more than a little tersely. She just wanted to be done with this suddenly hostile man and find out what happened to the friend who saved her life.

He turned his head to look at her again, before turning his whole body so that he was now looming over her menacingly.

"Oh, there's something I _want_ , all right," he bit out, leaning in and putting his face closer to her.

"I want to know what you were thinking! Did you really think that you could beat Cinder! DID you!" he screamed, finally losing his poorly maintained composure. He didn't give her the time to respond.

"No, what am I asking?! Of course you weren't thinking! Why did you have to take so much time to make your decision!? It's because of people like you," he spat out, before turning his erratic screaming on Jaune with an accusing point, "and _you_ that Summer died! That! That my _niece_! That Ruby! That she!"

He was forced to stop, unable to finish as his tears caught up with his rage. Pyrrha didn't bother wiping the spittle off of her face, horrified realization hitting her.

This man… was Ruby's uncle. And she was- what he said implied that-

Before she could do or say something – _anything_ , he stormed away angrily wiping the back of his free hand across his eyes; Pyrrha could make out Yang's distinctive golden hair when she looked out in the direction he was going.

"Congrats, _kid_ ; you traded my niece for your _partner_ ," he growled as a parting shot, simmering anger still clear even as pained as his voice was.

What did he mean?!

Pyrrha turned distraught emerald orbs towards Ren in askance; was that what he was going to tell her? That Ruby, precious Ruby, had died saving her?

Ren's face lowered, and Pyrrha could feel her heart do the same.

"Pyrrha… it's not your-," he began, before someone interrupted him.

"Ren, what happened!?" The voice screamed.

It took Pyrrha a second to realize that it was her voice that had cried out.

A tense moment passed, the silence broken only by the sounds of commotion around them as people ran about attempting to keep order in the safe zone.

"…The arrow pierced her lung. By the time you two and Weiss were recovered," he trailed off, not knowing what to say after breaking the cause of death so bluntly.

Jaune let out a sob, and she saw Ren recoil from the feeling of Nora slamming into his back and wrapping her arms around him.

Pyrrha Nikos couldn't get a word out before she started crying.

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It felt like time was moving without her.

When Yang Xiao Long regained consciousness, she immediately looked for her team.

Was Blake okay? Where was Weiss? Where was her sister?!

She could remember throwing herself off of her makeshift cot and beginning to search for the rest of team RWBY.

She remembered seeing uncle Qrow and receiving a soft hug, the huntman's red-rimmed eyes making her stomach do backflips.

She remembered, with painful clarity, when Qrow ripped off the band-aid and told her the bad news.

And the next thing she knew, the fire in her heart was extinguished.

When she learned what had happened to the most beautiful person in her world, Yang Xiao Long didn't rage, or scream, or fight. She just fell to her knees and sat there.

She barely registered Blake softly wrapping her arms around her.

Yang couldn't tell how long she had been there, or how much longer she would remain.

There just wasn't any reason to move.

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Blake Belladonna hugged Yang as hard as she could without aggravating their injuries, even though they couldn't possibly compare to the pain in her heart.

How could this have happened?

She didn't think things could get worse than Adam, and Yang's arm, but then-

A pained shudder cut through her jumbled thoughts; she wasn't sure if she had felt Yang's sob or her own.

She had entertained thoughts of running, to keep Yang safe, and so that her partner wouldn't have to see the girl who caused the loss of her arm.

But now, she just couldn't.

No matter how much the loss of Yang's arm was her fault, or how much she hated herself for it...

She could bear all of it, if that's what it took to help Yang – help them all – deal with…

A fresh wave of tears struck the cat faunus, and she buried her face into the back of her partner's hair.

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Weiss stood next to her grieving partners, holding herself tightly.

She wanted to embrace the two of them. Really, she did.

But that would make this feel too real, and Weiss was still desperately clinging onto the hope that this was just a horrible nightmare.

The heiress wrapped her arms around herself even tighter.

Ruby…

Her leader, her partner, her best friend…

She was such an immature, dumb, childish, stupid, kind, compassionate, pure-

Weiss was wracked by more angry tears.

The white haired girl turned her head in the direction that Ruby's uncle had gone; as soon as he heard the commotion coming from team JNPR he angrily went towards them.

She had half a mind to join him, but she thought that the older man should get a turn with them to himself.

The Schnee knew that she would eventually – she didn't know when she would recover enough composure to do it – have words of her own with Pyrrha and more importantly, Jaune.

He knew! He had to have known what he was sending them into! That he was sending them into death! That he was sending _Ruby_ into death.

Her mind knew that that wasn't true, even as her heart screamed at her that it was.

Pyrrha was her friend, but she could admit to herself, and only herself, that she would give up ten Pyrrhas if it meant that Ruby was alive.

Keeping her gaze fixed on Ruby's uncle Qrow as he, as far as she could tell, screamed and raged at Jaune, Weiss couldn't stop herself.

She hoped that Qrow said everything that was on his mind and more.

Weiss Schnee looked towards JNPR and Jaune Arc with a teary, hateful glare.

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I watched the finale of season 3 again, and it occurred to me that the end of the Cinder and Pyrrha fight happens over a very short period of time. And then I noticed that there are a lot of wasted seconds before Ruby reaches Pyrrha.

You'd think that they'd move with a _little_ more urgency. You know, with the attitude of, "No time to talk, move now!"

And _then_ I thought about the fact that Jaune probably wasn't thinking too clearly when he asked Ruby and Weiss to save Pyrrha; he didn't know about Ruby's silver eye shit either. Because he wasn't thinking, he didn't realize that sending Weiss and Ruby to save Pyrrha was dangerous as fuck for them as well.

All of those thoughts turned into this.

Thanks for reading, all. Bigger thanks if you choose to review.


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